There’s less than a month left until the start of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and people around the world are eagerly waiting to watch their country’s best athletes compete. In the meantime, guests are now able to visit the Museu Cidade Olimpica (Olympic City Museum) which opened up last week.
The museum features a number of interactive experiences such as visiting Rio de Janeiro and Olympic venues through virtual reality and the chance to try their hand at different events like Paralympic cycling, rowing and the hundred-yard dash, which puts them up against Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. It will give visitors the chance to learn more about the games, their events, the facilities and the city’s surrounding areas.
In regards to the virtual “fly over” tour, the guests will equip themselves with a special headset that will present them with a birds-eye view of numerous locations such as Deodoro and Barra (the two main venue groupings), the city center, and local spots like Sugarloaf Mountain and Copacabana beach.
The creation of the museum was a part of the city’s Nave do Conhecimento program with the goal to build in forgotten communities and bring new technologies to each area.
“This equipment is a kind of public internet space that the city has invested in, mainly in the less favored areas of the city and suburbs. It will offer the same activities of other Naves, such as Internet access and courses, but with a twist that it is also the Olympic City Museum, which features a large collection devoted to the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes.
Interestingly enough, the Museu Cidade Olimpica was built in a building that was previously a workshop for repairing railway trains, right down the street from the Olympic Stadium in Engenho de Dentro.
The Museu Cidade Olimpica is open from 9am to 9pm from Tuesdays to Saturdays and from 9:30am to 4:30pm on Sundays.